“Congratulations on the marriage of His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress.”
Enoch gave a slight tilt of his chin to signal that they could rise, and the Duke lifted his head with an air of arrogance.
The Duchess paid more attention to Alexa’s complexion than to the emperor. Violet was warm-hearted, so she was likely worried about whether Alexa had come through the imperial marriage unscathed.
“It brings me great joy to see you both looking well.”
Enoch faced them with undisguised indifference, but Duke Taira did not seem to care in the least.
“That said, why is Her Majesty the Empress wearing such a small crown? There should have been a far more magnificent one among the trousseau.”
Duke Taira had finally said it.
Only then did Enoch realize that Duke Taira had actually had a crown made for the empress and sent it as part of the trousseau. It was an act that crossed a line with the imperial family, but the fact that he said it to Enoch’s face showed just how brazen they were.
“Was there such a crown? This is the first I am hearing of it.”
A cold sweat ran down Alexa’s spine. She had no idea how to find her way out of this.
“We prepared a crown five times larger and more magnificent than the one she is wearing as part of the trousseau.”
Even now, the Duke was busy boasting of his own power.
“The craftsmen said it may well be the largest diamond in the entire empire.”
Was a person foolish because they were arrogant, or arrogant because they were foolish?
“Is that so? Then why is the empress wearing such a small crown?”
The arrow came back around to Alexa, who had done nothing to deserve it. There was no avoiding an answer here.
But if she said the Duke’s crown had been too grand, it would imply the palace’s own crowns fell short of it. And saying that the palace’s crown suited her station would amount to the same thing.
“I was told this crown was worn by the fourteenth empress.”
Alexa opened her mouth calmly.
“I learned that she was the most benevolent and wise in the history of the empire.”
All those desperate efforts to learn everything she could after realizing she had possessed Alexa’s body had been worth something after all.
“I wished to follow her example, so in my humble way, I wore the same crown.”
In that moment, a faint smile touched the corner of Enoch’s lips.
“So she says.”
Duke Taira, on the other hand, looked thoroughly put out. He had gone to the trouble of having a crown made to show off the Taira ducal house’s prestige, and it had been rendered completely useless.
“Then let us receive the next guests.”
Only then did Duke and Duchess Taira withdraw.
Enoch wore the expression of a man who had landed a blow himself. To think he was capable of a look like that. The original story had not shown her everything.
“The empress sleeps a great deal and knows a great deal.”
Alexa’s cheeks burned again.
“…It is only a modest knowledge.”
“Did you truly wear the small crown for that reason?”
It was the first time Enoch had looked directly at Alexa while asking her something.
“That was part of it, but… I simply do not care for extravagance.”
At those words, Enoch gave a small nod. Having grown up watching the Empress Dowager Camilla indulge in excess, those words were more welcome to him than she knew.
“The same as me.”
Enoch said this and took a sip of wine. The two of them were supposed to have had a marriage that fell apart from the very start, yet the mood between them right now could not be called bad at all.
“Do not fall asleep before I arrive tonight.”
The unexpected words made Alexa blink rapidly.
“Are, are you coming to the empress’s quarters tonight as well?”
“The empress knows protocol so well, and yet she asks such a strange question. There is a custom that for three days after the imperial marriage, the emperor must visit the empress’s quarters to be considered truly wed.”
Of course she knew that.
But that Enoch intended to honor that custom with Alexa was something she had never heard before. This was far too different from the original story.
“There is no need to worry. I will not be as late as yesterday.”
Thump, thump.
Alexa’s heart began to beat in a different way than before.
Today as well, Alexa rose from her seat first, as protocol required.
“Your Majesty, I will take my leave now.”
“Very well.”
Unlike yesterday, an answer came from Enoch. The situation felt so strange that Alexa kept her head bowed as she withdrew.
“Your Majesty, you worked so hard today. You must be tired.”
The moment she returned to the empress’s quarters, Matilda helped her out of her dress and into a foaming bath. The two young maids attended to Alexa as she bathed.
Back in her former life, when she had read romance fantasy novels, she had thought what an easy lot the heroines had. But now that it was her own life, she could not quite call it easy.
Above all else, the thing she had never grown used to was never being alone, wherever she went and whatever she did. And the fact that a single wrong word could mean the difference between life and death was something she still could not fully grasp.
But having faced Enoch’s imposing presence in person, she thought it really might be true. Only two days into the imperial marriage and already exhausted by one thing after another, she got a headache just thinking about how she would manage going forward.
“I do hope His Majesty will stay longer in the empress’s quarters tonight.”
Matilda said this while giving Alexa a massage after her bath, once she had changed into a white nightgown. Alexa’s face turned red again for no good reason.
“Oh my, you are a married woman now, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. It is only natural between husband and wife.”
In the original story, that natural thing had not come to pass for ten years. So tonight would fall short of Matilda’s hopes as well.
“His Majesty is busy with state affairs, and now the imperial marriage on top of that. He must have no room to breathe.”
“Oh my, has there ever been an emperor who did not?”
Matilda laughed and patted Alexa on the shoulder.
“Matilda, please make sure the trousseau from the Taira ducal house is kept out of His Majesty’s sight as much as possible.”
“Why would we ever do that? It is the Taira ducal house’s devotion.”
“His Majesty does not find the Taira ducal house a comfortable presence.”
Matilda looked even more puzzled.
“Are they not His Majesty’s own maternal family?”
“Sometimes that is precisely what makes it more uncomfortable. Duke Taira is well known for his insolence toward His Majesty.”
“My, where did you hear such things?”
She could hardly say she had read it in the original story.
“Just… things I have heard passing through the palace. So I would rather not give His Majesty cause for discomfort.”
“Of course. The Taira ducal house matters, but Her Majesty is now a woman of the imperial family.”
Matilda was not a person of the Taira ducal house. She had been a maid who had cared for Alexa since her time at the Blanc marquisate. That, for now, was a stroke of luck.
“More importantly, Matilda, bring me a robe.”
“Are you cold?”
“Mm, a little.”
The white nightgown worn for the imperial marriage was semi-transparent, and the skin beneath showed through. Yesterday she had been too overwhelmed to think about it and had no choice in the matter, but with Enoch coming again tonight, it was far too embarrassing to receive him dressed like this.
“For three days you must wait for His Majesty in the white nightgown. It is the custom, so there is nothing to be done. Instead, I will stoke the fireplace more.”
It was protocol, protocol, everywhere she turned.
Alexa only hoped all these imperial marriage rites would be over quickly. Once they were, Enoch, busy with state affairs, would forget about her, and then she could find Claire and set everything right.
The question was whether Alexa could make it safely until then. Even today, one small slip of the tongue could have been disastrous. Duke Taira’s arrogance was so extreme that it was actually becoming a danger to Alexa herself.
[Alexa was no different from a withering plant, losing the pure freshness she had once had and fading helplessly toward death.]
The original Alexa had lived this kind of life for ten years. It was a life that would have made anyone wither, without question.
‘I must not provoke His Majesty’s anger, but I must not draw his interest either.’
It was unlikely, but if Enoch were to take an interest in Alexa, she would never be able to find a free life later on.
“Your Majesty, I have stoked the fireplace. I will take my leave now.”
“Yes.”
Alexa leaned back against her pillow and sat with her knees drawn to her chest.
Crackle, crackle. The sound of wood burning in the fireplace filled the room pleasantly. After another exhausting day, her body felt heavy with fatigue.
“Do not fall asleep before I arrive tonight.”
Enoch’s words came back to her all at once, and her heart began to pound again. His voice always resonated low, leaving a lingering warmth in her chest.
Honestly… if she had not known the original story, she might have thought him a wonderful man, strong and striking all at once.
But she already knew how cold and harsh he had been to Alexa, so a line had been drawn in her heart.
Above all, there was no place for Alexa in Enoch’s heart. So it was better to look forward to a future of freedom than to torment herself with pointless hope.
And so… how much more time had passed?
“I told you not to fall asleep, and here you are dozing.”
Alexa, who had been nodding off, startled awake and pulled her knees to her chest. Enoch looked at the sight and laughed, seeming to find it amusing.
“Wh, when did you…”
“Just now. You were dozing even when I made my presence known, so I had no choice but to come closer.”
